Taiwan's Powerchip and Macronix announced they have inked a five-year contract to jointly engage in development and production of flash memory chips. Furthermore, Powerchip will make some its capacity available and produce chips for Macronix. This second agreement is for a period of seven years. Previously this year, Powerchip had already invested NT$5.3 billion (US$165.6 million; US$1 = NT$32) in acquiring a 12-inch plant from Macronix. This new facility is expected to be operational as of the third quarter of 2006.